Object Details
- Description
- This conical–shaped wooden drug jar and lid has an ivory–colored shield outlined in black. The wood is slightly warped and the lid does not separate from the container. The interior of the shield is marked, "OLIBAN:” in black paint. Olibanum—also known as frankincense—is a yellow–brown resin from the Boswellia Scara tree. Known for millennium in the Middle East, Oliban is still used as incense in religious ceremonies and as an ingredient in perfumes. As a medicine, it was used as a stimulant to promote sweating. It was also used as a laxative.
- Containers 1991.0664.0889 through 892 appear to be from the same apothecary. The Deutsche Apotheken-Museum in Heidelberg, Germany has similar containers in their collection.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
- 19th Century
- ID Number
- 1991.0664.0892
- catalog number
- M-06102
- accession number
- 1991.0664
- collector/donor number
- SAP 814
- catalog number
- 1991.0664.0892
- Object Name
- jar
- Other Terms
- jar; Pharmaceutical Container
- Physical Description
- turnen wood (overall production method/technique)
- wood (overall material)
- paint (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 13.3 cm x 7.1 cm; 5 1/4 in x 2 25/32 in
- place made
- Germany
- Related Publication
- Urdang, George and Ferdinand William Nitardy. The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy: A Catalogue of the Collection
- Freedman, Paul. Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Health & Medicine
- European Apothecary
- Art
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Pharmacy
- Record ID
- nmah_994331
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-739f-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
